


Defiled Him Thrice

by Ellionne



Series: Mad as a Hatter (Crack Collection) [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crack Treated Seriously, Emotionally Stunted Tom Riddle, Good Friend Abraxas, Good Friend Fleamont, M/M, No Bashing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Rating May Change, Sane Tom Riddle, Tom & Abraxas & Fleamont are the same age, Tom's magic kept his appearance young, Wedding Speech Gone Wrong, just idiots all around, mentions of past Tom / various Potters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellionne/pseuds/Ellionne
Summary: Harry was twenty-one when he discovered the history his family apparently had with his husband, his soulmate.Harry had never liked history.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Series: Mad as a Hatter (Crack Collection) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2194092
Comments: 66
Kudos: 139
Collections: NW14_Collection





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Do NOT repost, recreate or translate.**
> 
> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3
> 
> The idea for this story is based on the crack conversation I had with [ rosie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie_sparks/pseuds/Rosie_sparks) on discord after she shared her auto-correct typo _defied_ -> _defiled_. We had a fun time as always :D

Harry was five when he saw Lord Slytherin for the first time. 

He had just learned about fairytales with their princes and he was easily convinced that Lord Slytherin had to be one. He looked young and handsome, just like the pictures in the book his mother had shown him earlier. He even looked the regal part as he left the study of Harry’s grandfather in the formal robes of the Wizengamot. 

Of course, Harry knew all about magic and wizards - he was even one himself! But with the sparkling eyes and the dishevelled hair that didn’t fit the rest of his appearance, Lord Slytherin looked like he swam in magic. Harry thought he could feel it curling protectively around him even though Lord Slytherin couldn’t see him behind the see-through mirror that Harry used as a hiding place so his mother couldn’t force him to bed. Harry basked in the heavy magic as he wondered what it would be like if he could feel it every day. 

  
  


Harry was fifteen when he saw Lord Slytherin again and had to think back on the fairytales of his childhood. 

While he didn’t seem to have aged a single day over the years, Lord Slytherin didn’t remind him of the dashing prince anymore but of a fierce dragon. His appearance was immaculate, his face cold and expressionless like a reptile - a quick wink to Harry’s father aside. But his magic felt as warm and heavy as Harry remembered it. He enjoyed as it again coiled protectively around him and couldn’t imagine any other magic would ever be worth experiencing. 

~~Harry was also fifteen when he lay in bed and touched himself for the first time while his mind was filled with a man instead of girls.~~

  
  


Harry had just turned seventeen, as he went giddy to sleep and eventually _dreamed_ and saw the hints that would lead him to his soulmate. And as vague as his dream was supposed to be - Harry _knew_. He dreamed of a dragon who was also a prince, he felt warm and protected. Harry wouldn’t need to search for his soulmate, he already had found him years ago. 

Harry was eighteen when he _claimed_ his soulmate. 

They met at the annually held Malfoy masquerade ball. Harry had blackmailed an invitation to the event from Draco who courted his muggleborn friend Hermione without the knowledge of his pureblooded family. 

Harry took great care with his appearance.  
As vague as the soulmate dreams usually were, the only unambiguous way to discover if your intended was also your soulmate was through sex. Most people tried their best to not defile themselves by sleeping with someone who wasn’t their soulmate but with how old Lord Slytherin was, it was an open secret that he had had various encounters over the course of his life.

Harry couldn’t fault him for it. He was just waiting for a year and his patience had already run thin to the point that he sneaked into a party to seduce his soulmate even though it was known he picked his partners only above the age of twenty-five. 

But as the evening ran its course, and Harry did his best to be _seen_ without looking like it was what he tried, his soulmate had finally addressed him. They talked, while Lord Slytherin’s flute ran never out of champagne, just like Harry’s friend Dobby had promised him. They danced for hours before they had withdrawn from the party and _danced_ a few more hours after they had felt for sure that they had found their soulmate in each other. 

  
  


Harry was twenty-one when he finally fulfilled his dream. Clad in traditional robes he stood with his soulmate before an officiant and spoke the ancient vows of the traditional soulmate bonding. Like on the day his soulmate had noticed him for the first time, they kissed and they danced. They celebrated with friends and family and a lot more people than Harry thought necessary but he had to put up with due to his soulmate’s standing in the Wizarding World. 

  
  


Harry was twenty one when his godfather stood up and let his glass clink to gain the attention of the wedding party. Sirius obviously was drunk already and while Remus tried to tug him down, it was to no avail. 

“I want a toast on my lovely godson - so up with your fancy flutes, fellas!”

A wave of amusement ran through the assembled guests as all raised their champagne flutes to humour the drunk Black Heir. 

“To Harry! The most decent lad who ever lived and the most rebellious of us all!”  
Sirius threw back his glass as the chorus of _To Harry_ sounded.  
“I’m _Sirius,_ James, one could think we did the dusty blood adopting bond with how much Harry comes after his old godfather. Braking with family traditions? Way more my style than yours.” He laughed like the madman he often pretended to be. “Who would have thought that our little Harry would be the one to break a hoar Potter Tradition. The first Potter to fool around with Riddle but end up marrying him in how many generations is he anyway?”

  
  


Harry was also twenty-one when he discovered the history his family apparently had with his husband, his soulmate. Harry had never liked history.


	2. Abraxas POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First stage of _The Talk_.  
> Abraxas POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3
> 
> Inspiration hit hard, and I have planned out at least 8ish more chapters and there isn't an end in sight yet. I'll keep them around 800 - 1000 words tho, I want to explore various POV's.

Of all the - numerous - situations caused by Tom’s missing empathy Abraxas had witnessed over the years, there wasn’t a single one as difficult to watch as the one unfolding in front of him right now

It was obvious that Tom’s little soulmate was beside himself - at least obvious for everyone but Tom, who looked more baffled at Harry’s hysteria than Abraxas had ever seen him before. And over their shared years, Abraxas had seen a _lot_ of fallouts due to Tom missing social cues.

“I don’t understand why you’re this upset, Harry.”  
“You- You don’t understand why it would make me upset that _my husband had shagged my father?!”_

Abraxas winced at the banshee-like quality of Harry’s voice. The young man nearly jumped out of his mother’s arms and looked like he wanted to strangle Tom, who took unconsciously a step back. Abraxas couldn’t fault him for it - what Tom lacked in empathy, Harry lacked in impulse control. Heir Black had been right, one could think the lad would be his offspring rather than James Potter’s who had eventually settled down over the years. Harry used to drag otherwise perfectly behaved Heirs just as reliable into trouble as Heir Black had done with Heir Potter in their youth. Abraxas couldn’t count the number of times he had to discipline his grandson over some of Harry’s nonsense he had participated in.

“You said you didn’t want to know about past encounters! I just adhered to your wishes.”

Harry took a deep breath and Abraxas knew it would be best to intervene. From all the present people, he was the one able to handle Tom’s inability to understand people’s emotional outburst the best. Fleamont was a close _second_ but since he seemed to be busy talking with his son at the offside of the backroom they all had gathered, he wouldn’t be available - considering the topic, it might be for the best.

“May I borrow Tom for a moment?”

Tom looked irritated over the disruption but Harry deflated and rubbed his face tiredly with both hands. “Yes. Yes, would you talk some sense into him, please?” He let himself be tugged aside by his mother before they began to talk quietly while both threw dirty looks at the two Potter men in the other corner of the room. Abraxas didn’t even try to imagine what they would come up with. Redheads tended to be vicious and Harry was in no way inferior to his mother, famous black Potter-hair or not. 

Abraxas placed himself between Tom and his retreating husband and thus hindered Tom to follow Harry further with his unusual expressive eyes. It seemed the soulbond was already settling in, completing Tom’s soul and opening it up for feeling emotions more deeply. It was just Tom’s luck that he had to deal with such a rollercoaster right from the start. Although it could be argued that it had been his own fault.

“You really haven’t told him before?”  
Like the seasoned Pureblood Lord he was, Abraxas managed to keep the exasperation in his voice to a minimum but Tom just frowned down on him. “It was _you_ who taught me that it is inappropriate behaviour to parade past adventures in front of a partner.” 

Only the long years as friends, and all the practice Abraxas had gathered during them in dealing with Tom, helped him keep his patience. “You shouldn’t parade past affairs in front of your current one, but you _should_ tell your fiancé if you slept through his ancestors. And if I remember right, that’s also what I advised you to do when the issue came up for the first time.” 

Tom’s mouth formed a small o as reluctant understanding crossed his face before he pinched his eye’s in the way that Abraxas easily translated as Tom having a problem with bringing his logic in unison with some explained emotionality. “I know you wanted to tell him right at the beginning, so why didn’t you? This mess could have been easily avoided.”

“I-“, Tom seemed to be at a loss as his gaze travelled over to Fleamont who was still busy talking with his son. “I was naive, obviously.”

Abraxas sighed. Tom looked almost betrayed. Hopefully, it hadn’t been Fleamont’s fault. It seemed a bit too cruel to be one of his pranks, he had always had more class than his offspring and was usually more considerate than that - especially concerning Tom.

Either way, Abraxas gave in to the temptation and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, Tom. On days like these, I wonder if you are playing me since we were teenagers or if you - and I say it without offence and with the utmost respect - really have the emotional capacity of a leaking cauldron.”

Tom was interrupted in his practised answer to their often-repeated joke by Fleamont’s booming laughter. “Hah. Definitely the second. Or he would have needed the cold blood of his heraldic animal to survive all his social blunders without combusting in embarrassment.”

Abraxas watched as his most detested friend abandoned his son - who tried now to approach his scowling family - to join them. He had no idea how Tom could stand the prolonged company of the boisterous Potter Lord. Ah well, he had a more clear idea than he had ever wanted to have, Tom’s mentioned social blunders to thank for, but still. 

“Are you alright, Tom?”

The only reason why Abraxas was able to tolerate Fleamont for decades now, was because he was a genuine friend of Tom. One who didn’t let himself be held back by proper pureblood etiquette to comfort him, as the soft voice and careful hand on Tom’s elbow proved. Despite not being soulmates and having had no real contact before Tom’s obsession with the Potter family, they had discovered to genuinely like each other early on. 

A fact which Harry also seemed to remember now, if his screeching was any indication.

“Are you hooking up with my _grandfather_?!”

The calm Harry’s mother had managed to instil in him was all but lost but he seemed pacified as Fleamont and Tom talked over each other to deny being involved… anymore.

Although they demonstrated rather spectacularly why Abraxas dreaded them being together. As brilliant as Tom was, he always tended to run on his last two brain cells, as if Fleamont had his Gryffindor idiocy _rubbed off_ on Tom over the years.

“Don’t be ridiculous, love.”

Abraxas’ watched as Harry’s relieved sigh got stuck in his throat so bad he nearly had a coughing fit as Tom wouldn’t shut up and Fleamont just made it worse.

“Euphemia would kill him.”  
“...or rather my heart condition. Magic can’t prevent the stamina of a young man for all of us. But I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, eh?”

Considering Harry’s murderous eyes as he pierces his grandfather, he sure did. Abraxas guessed he had a companion to suffer through Tom’s and Fleamont’s nonsense in the future. Now he just needed to learn tolerating Harry to be able to appreciate it.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should warn you that the intended crack made a hard turn towards hurt/comfort territory beginning with the next chapter. I have no idea what happened.


	3. Tom POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanna know how often Tom was defiled by a Potter before he finally found his soulmate?  
> Well. Take an educated guess :D  
> Next stage of The Talk - Tom POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3

“How many?"

Tom was sure he knew exactly what it was that Harry - his soulmate he had waited for so, _so_ long - asked. But considering how the conversation had gone so far, he was also rather sure that Harry’s temperament wouldn’t be able to handle the answer to his question.  
Keeping his silence seemed to be Tom’s best bet. Of course, Harry wouldn’t let him get away that easily.

“How many Potters did you sleep with?”

He tried to make sense of the reason for Harry’s scathing tone but the tight feeling in his chest threw Tom off. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears. Did he panic? Why would he panic though, when they were just talking? Ridiculous. Tom didn’t do panic attacks.

“Including you? Four.”

Harry opened his mouth but no sound left him, as he stared incredulously at Tom, just like James did. Naturally, it was Fleamont who managed to overcome his shock first of them. Of all Potters, he had the most experience with Tom’s habit for random world-shattering statements, after all.

“Who- who is the fourth?”

Tom exerted himself to stare blankly at his old friend's face. He refused to answer an obvious question. Especially since it was hard to concentrate, with the hammering headache that kept getting worse by the minute. Was it a side effect of the bonding ritual? Tom had been led to believe the bonding was fulfilling. Not punishing. At least the drawing horror on Fleamont‘s face lifted his mood marginally.

„Oh no. Oh, come on. You haven’t, have you? Please tell me you haven’t.“

All his life, Tom had felt detached and calm. Now he just felt irritated. He didn’t like it. It left him _snappy_. “What do you expect me to say? I _knew_ my soulmate was a Potter, but you weren’t it - I had to try.”

“You- you really-? My parents were soulmates!”

Tom concentrated solely on Fleamont, ignoring James losing all colour in the background. He felt like it was bad enough that he seemed to have a quarrel with his freshly bounded soulmate already, he didn’t need another one with one of his most trusted friends on top. So the surprising delicate state of his father-in-law was really the last of his sorrows.

“How was I supposed to know? It’s not like purebloods didn’t have a habit of forcing their children into _appropriate_ marriages.” After all, they had both been around to witness the drama that Abraxas’ soulmate had caused, or rather the drama the Malfoys had caused due to his soulmate’s blood status. Tom saw the righteousness rising in Fleamont so he decided to interfere - he didn’t want to review a time that had been so incredibly difficult for his friend and had also caused one of his own bigger existential crises. That aside, his headache didn’t allow for a verbal row right now.

“If it soothes you, it was after your mother died so there was no infidelity.”

“ _How_ soon?”

“I don’t see why this should matter.” And Tom really didn’t. But the way ever-friendly Fleamont squinted at him while Abraxas let out a long-suffering sigh were telling enough signs for even Tom to gather the impression that he walked on thin ice. Even though he couldn’t exactly point out _why_. It seemed a reoccurring matter for this conversation and Tom was already tired of it. 

“ _Tom_! How. Soon?”

Fleamont narrowed his eyes on Tom the exact way Harry did when he was in a particular stubborn mood. On any other day, Tom would try to out-stubborn the lot of them just on principle but he felt a faint layer of sweat building on his neck and the palms of his hands. Had there been something wrong with the food?

“After the funeral.”

“You slept with my widowed father before my mother was even cold?!”

Now it was Tom’s turn to frown. “Stop being absurd. I don’t think they bury someone that fast.” Really, the nerve of Fleamont. Tom didn’t know why, but the accusation hit him. He might be perceived as a cold-hearted bastard by most of his acquaintances but Fleamont had always made a point of treating Tom like a _friend_. 

“He looked so sad. He could have been my soulmate, I didn’t want him to be sad.”

Fleamont still hadn’t said a word, but Tom couldn’t stop rumbling. He almost didn’t hear himself anymore, all sounds seemed muted.

“And it wasn’t entirely for nought. At least afterwards I knew he wasn’t my soulmate but he could tell me it would definitely be one of his descendants.”

And finally, Fleamont seemed to be over whatever it was that had him shocked into silence. “What has my father to do with- I thought your dream told you that?” 

“I had a dream which I thought led me to the Potter Family but I couldn’t be sure since no living Potter had been my soulmate. I only could be sure after Henry’s magical sensibility was able to detect that I would be the soulmate to one of his blood.”

“ _Henry?!_ You were on a first-name basis with my father?” 

All the shouting drove Tom into rubbing his temples in an attempt to soothe the splitting sensation. Normally he wouldn’t dare to show such weakness in front of so many people but well. They were _family_ now, weren’t they? 

“Of course. He spent quite some time teaching me important skills.”

Tom didn’t even need to open his eyes to sense Fleamont’s disgusted face. The staged gagging sounds were able to transmit his feelings on the matter just fine. 

“Don’t be a child, not these kinds of skills. I really don’t understand why _you’re_ so upset. It’s not like you didn’t shove your son on me.”


	4. James POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3

James felt the last drop of blood leaving his face as he heard himself being thrown to the wolves, highlighted by Sirius’ snickers and Remus’ defeated sigh in the background. 

To be fair, considering the way Riddle always had been, it was probably not even with the intent to distract Harry’s wrath to someone else - it wouldn’t help James though if the doubled blazing green stare was anything to go by. Hopefully, the whole affair was punishment enough to avoid Remus’ long-suffering _told you so_ afterwards. 

“Hold on - it wasn’t like that!”

His wife and son just narrowed their eyes at him but before one of them could ask anything further or James could try to dig himself out of the misery, Riddle had to make it worse. Of course, he did. 

The tosser even had the audacity to sound genuinely confused about it. Naturally, James had known about the man's inability to properly read or comprehend most emotional situations. But it was easy to forget considering how capable Riddle was with everything else. Especially since James himself had never much to deal with him, besides that he had always been a good friend of his father and his son’s partner of four years. 

And well, the one time James-   
“You dropped by in many offices of Wizengamot Lords without wearing anything under your Auror robes?”

“What?!”  
The shrieking of his son was _almost_ enough to miss the whisper of his wife. Almost. But James didn’t even need to look at her to feel her usual warm eyes watching his every move with freezing wrath - daring him to validate what was said. 

James swallowed. Harry might look like a carbon copy of him, but his character was so much Lily, James sometimes had whiplash. At least he knew, as much as Harry threw a tantrum at the moment, it would be easy to solve in time. Probably. With a bit of work. Maybe. With much groveling.

However.   
Lily, being _quiet_ in her anger-   
That would be a real problem if left alone.

So James did what he was best at. He just winged it. The most important thing was to not let Lily have a word. Merlin knew he loved her, but she could be scathing if she wanted to be. And James was married long enough to sense that she wanted to be _very_ scathing at this moment. 

“Wait, wait, wait. It wasn’t like that!”

He saw Riddle out of the corner of his eye confused quirking an eyebrow in the way that all students of Slytherin seem to inherit on their first day at Hogwarts. Bugger. James would be better off just spitting it out before Riddle decided to voice his confusion and make the situation even _worse_. Although James honestly had no idea how that should be possible.

“Well, yes. Technically it was like that. _But-“_ , James spoke over Lily’s intake of breath, without giving her a choice to interject, “- it was when you wanted a break of our relationship and went off with Snape to journey the world for your masteries.”

And hadn’t that been the worst three years of his life? The love of his life, leaving him to conquer the world with her best friend, who at this point had been his greatest rival for her affection - at least as far as James had been concerned. Of course, he knew Lily to be everything but a coward. It didn’t change that, at this time, it hadn’t felt like ‘just taking a break’ at all. But he had never wanted to stand between her and her dreams so he had let her go. 

“I was young and had needs but didn’t want to touch another woman. Dad said if I wanted to try a man instead, with no strings attached, I could always go to Riddle.”

“And you _did_?!”

James heard his father spluttering and was vaguely aware of him whispering with Riddle und Malfoy but if he wanted to get out of this mess with his marriage somewhat intact he really couldn’t spare any attention to them.

“I had waited two years already without hearing anything from you!”  
Dammit. It wouldn’t do to sound accusing. Lily was sure as hell not in the mood for any implications of stuff they already talked over ages ago. “Well, maybe there was also some drunken dare from Sirius involved.”

“Woah, leave me out of this.” Sirius managed to do his name justice for approximately three seconds before he fell back in the drunken snicker that led them to the whole mess in the first place “It’s a _Potter_ Tradition.”

Remus whacked him over the head and threw James a pitying look. Considering the magical frizz at the edge of Lily’s hair, James wasn’t sure if pity would help him in this situation. But he appreciated the thought. After all, Remus _could_ make everything worse by sharing James‘ gushing in the aftermath of his stunt. Or James‘ cowardice as Remus had tried to talk him into confessing it to Harry after it had been clear that he had slept with his son’s soulmate. 

“Just to make it clear: James wasn’t drunk when he came to me. I wouldn’t have indulged him like that - I have principles.” Riddle sounded honestly offended that someone would accuse him of such. 

At least the scrutiny of the room concentrated back on Riddle after that and left James room to take a breath. Although Lily’s magic zapping him didn’t bode well for a future talk. 


	5. Tom POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom PoV - last part of The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) and also to the amazing [Reign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RudeHellion/pseuds/RudeHellion) who helped me figuring out how to steer the story into the planned direction <3
> 
>  **I did a few minor changes in the past chapters, you might want to skim over them. ^^'** ~~I don't want to point them out because some of them are hints for later happenings~~

Tom had never struggled to endure silence. On the contrary - he had early on learned that the ability to keep his silence was his strongest weapon. He already relayed on silence as a tool before he had discovered his magic and what he could do with it. 

His silence could be comforting when he had - just again - no idea why someone was upset, he needed nothing else to do but sit close to them and keep his silence while they spat out their problems or just stared into the void; his silence could be intimidating when he wanted someone to talk or act, all he had to do was to remain expressionless as he stared deep into their eyes; his silence could be threatening when he _didn’t_ keep his face blank but let his eyes speak for him, glaring his opposite into submission. 

So it was just another new thing to be discovered on this day that Tom didn’t know about himself. Apparently, he couldn’t stand silence when his soulmate was upset because of him.

He didn’t care about the surrounding _family_ that was supposed to be his now too or the friends that had accompanied him through all the stages of his life since his adolescence. All he could feel was the judging silence of his soulmate, who continued to stare Tom down like Tom had stared down so many faceless men and women to get what he wanted. 

It didn’t make any sense.  
Tom wanted desperately to make sense of _why_ Harry was so upset with him but he couldn’t. Harry had said he wanted nothing to know about Tom’s past before him. And although Tom had wanted to, although Abraxas and Fleamont had agreed to his idea, he had refrained from telling Harry because it was what he had explicitly wished for and because-

It didn’t matter anymore.

“It was just that one time - he wasn’t my soulmate so that was that.”

Tom felt the pressure that had constricted his chest and laboured his breath lose as Harry decided to break his silence, even though his words, just as his expression, weren’t particularly forgiving. 

“You just- He came to you without any romantic history between the two of you, and you slept with him? Just like that?!”

Harry’s words broke the haze around Tom’s mind somewhat. The headache was still there, the muted drone in his ears didn’t lessen - but Tom felt the misery that plagued his thoughts lifting slightly. Even if it was just to stare blankly at Harry, Abraxas’ disbelieving snort at his side. 

“I- I have really no idea what to say- how could you do something like that?!”

Tom’s thoughts were racing. He vaguely noticed how Abraxas pulled himself together at once after his - for his usual immaculate appearance rather crass - reaction but he couldn’t care as he continued to stare at his soulmate. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Of all things, _this_ was what put him off the most, even though he-

“What?!” Harry’s irritated shout broke Tom out of his haze as well as his body out of its earlier strange reactions - it was ridiculous, he would visit a healer later; he couldn’t allow himself to become sick. He forced himself to remain as calm and aloof as possible in this moment of his weakness just after the bonding and the emotional onslaught following it. With how high-strung Harry still was, the situation was bound to become a real disaster if Tom would allow himself to act on the irritation that he felt due to Harry’s accusing words. 

“Firstly, I had already been looking for my soulmate for decades. I promised myself as a young man that I would do anything necessary to find them. I knew for sure it would be a Potter. A Potter came to seduce me, I allowed it. He wasn’t my soulmate, I wasn’t interested in a repeat.”

“Just like that?!” Harry obviously felt himself righteous if the screeching quality that came back into his voice was any indication. 

“ _Secondly_ ,” Tom hated to talk over his soulmate, to disrespect them like that, but he wouldn’t get any word in if he didn’t cut in at the beginning of Harry’s rage tangent. “You might remember the day we met and how you plotted to come onto me without us having so much as talked before. And how you were confident to seduce me just because of my reputation in this regard. You even deceived me with a masquerade because you _knew_ you would have been too young for me to consider.”

The widening of Harry’s eyes and the surprised parting of his lips were all the signs Tom needed to know that Harry was _very_ aware of what Tom was talking about. Even so, Harry crossed his arms and scowled up to Tom. 

“That’s- that was a completely different situation.”

At any other time, in any other situation, Tom would humour Harry and let the matter go. He had waited far too long for his soulmate to spend their time bickering. But know, raw with emotions too strong for him to handle, with a headache as strong as he hadn’t felt since the sleepless phase of NEWT preparation, where Tom and Abraxas had lived off potions and little else for weeks before Fleamont - Tom’s new _acquaintance_ that had promoted himself to his _friend_ in a frightening brief span of time - had pulled on over them and forced sleeping draught down their throats… Tom couldn’t be the _bigger person_ anymore. 

“Oh, is it now? Enlighten me.”

Not when Harry was deliberately difficult and did his best to ruin the day that was supposed to be _their_ day. The day that Tom had never envisioned himself to attend with someone as _young_ as Harry, but had done so regardless because Harry had swished all of Tom’s concerns aside, again and again, and _begged_ him to. Because Harry had wanted to be bonded to his soulmate - just like Tom had wanted to all these years. 

“BECAUSE I KNEW YOU WERE MY SOULMATE!”

Tom didn’t think anymore. His hands shook where he had balled them to fists at his side. Even though they were too many people in the tiny receiving room, the air used and hot, Tom felt cold.

“Congratulations.” He was almost glad that the ringing in his ears had come back in full force, just so he could pretend he didn’t hear how raw his voice sounded. “You knew I was your soulmate and did everything you could do to _claim_ me - I just knew it would be a Potter and I did also everything I could to just to _find_ you. Don’t be a hypocrite.”

Tom snapped his mouth shut. 

It would be a lie if he were to say that he had never thought about the circumstances of how they had met. But he hadn’t let himself be deterred by them. He had waited for his soulmate to appear for decades, he would not let them go for something as minor as _how_ they had approached him. 

He had been so relieved to finally have found them that it never had crossed his mind to bring up the issue. Just like he had always imagined in these cold and lonely ~~years~~ hours at the orphanage, unloved and unwanted, he had found his soulmate, the one person who would love him no matter what. Who would stay beside him in his endeavours and never betray him. The one he could trust. The one who would never lea-

Tom watched petrified as Harry bristled with reddened checks the way he only did when he was embarrassed and didn’t want to talk about it. Tom watched in silent horror as Harry huffed out an annoyed sigh, twirled on the spot, and left through the floo without looking back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm curious, who foresaw this turn?


	6. Draco POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Draco PoV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) and [Reign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RudeHellion/pseuds/RudeHellion) for her ongoing help with sorting through my ideas for the rest of the story <3

“Stop laughing!”

Draco forced all the proper pureblood training that had been drummed into him in action to regain his posture. But looking at Harry, who sat practically drowning in one of his now-husbands sweaters on his couch and glared disgruntled with an embarrassed flush to his face, had Draco cracking up again. 

“ _Draco!_ ” 

He held his hands up in defence as he managed to tone down his cackling to some sporadic snickers in hope of avoiding one of Harry’s infamous temperamental hexes.

“Come on, you have to admit it’s funny!” Draco thought over Harry’s recounting of what had happened after Cousin Sirius' wedding speech two days ago. Who would have thought old and proper Lord Slyth- _Tom_. He was supposed to call him Tom - and Merlin wasn’t that still weird? Even his father called _his father’s_ best friend still ‘Lord Slytherin’ most of the time. Either way, who would have thought that Tom had it in him like that?  
It was hilarious as far as Draco was concerned.

“I mean it isn’t even that unusual to get defiled by a member of your soulmate’s family because you’ve mistaken them due to the vagueness of the dream.” Draco was able to hold his mirth under control for a few seconds but it was to no avail and he snickered again. “Although, mind you, usually the mistake is horizontal on the family tree, not vertical.” 

Harry's narrowed eyed glare was the only warning for the stinging hex that had Draco yelping off the couch. 

“You like my family drama? Well, I would like to see how you’ll enjoy _yours_ if I tell your father about Hermione!” 

More than the previous hex, Harry’s threat had Draco sobering up in an instant. As the only child and heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy, his marriage was not just a personal but a family matter. 

Hermione was brilliant and a powerful witch. She was beautiful and under the tutelage of his mother, she would become a Lady of the High Society in no time. But she was muggleborn and there had been none in the family tree since the Stature of Secrecy had been implemented. 

In the beginning, she had often thought wizarding traditions and customs backwards but she had always been willing to learn the history and reasons behind them and more often than not, adapted her worldview to her new world, just like she had brought Draco to question his own beliefs and adapt them in turn where it was appropriate. ~~It had been a few years now and Dobby was still staring in wide-eyed wonder whenever Draco acknowledged his presence and services. Draco was obviously not the only one who needed time to get used to the changes.~~

But the fact remained - soulmate or not, Hermione was muggleborn and no proper match for a Malfoy. Draco had a duty to his family. He was raised with honour, he could and would not abandon them.

Instead, they had been working behind the scenes for years, to bring Hermione in a position where she was displayed as the powerful and brilliant witch she was. They planned that, blood status aside, his grandfather would be a fool to force Draco into a marriage with someone else as soon as he announced their soul bond. 

“That’s- that’s a completely different situation!”

“Oh? How so? Broken _family tradition_ because you are set to marry someone your ancestors didn’t take into consideration for themselves. Same difference, really.” 

It wasn’t, and the little shit knew it. Harry had been often enough consoling Hermione when she had been sad for not being able to be as open with their relationship as they both wanted to be. Since Harry had been involved with Tom, they had to be even more secretive so Tom wouldn’t notice their bond and inform his best friend, Draco’s grandfather and the decider of his future, one Lord Abraxas Malfoy.

“Harry, you know you can’t-”

His friend - and it was moments like this where Draco contemplated his life choices - only scoffed. Jaw set stubbornly as he stood up. 

“See how I can. Your grandfather witnessed one trainwreck of a conversation about it already, I’m sure he can handle another.”

Draco watched in helpless incredulity as Harry stomped red-faced towards the floo and reached for the floo powder on the mantelpiece. He had just called out for Malfoy Manor as Draco rushed over and tackled Harry in an attempt to stop his madness. 

He hadn’t accounted for Harry to pirouette on his heels with an impish smirk though; so in the end, Draco didn’t hold Harry back but he toppled them over and they fell into the floo together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might have noticed the newly set chapter number - that's right: the whole story is concepted now and it will have around 20 chapters \o/  
> Some of the chapters will probably have way more than the usual 800-1k words but we'll see.


	7. Harry PoV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry meets Abraxas.   
> Neither is happy with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6 weeks already 😱  
> I wanted to rework my concept under consideration of [Reign’s](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RudeHellion/pseuds/RudeHellion) suggestions but it has around 10k now so it’s gruelling work and I got lost - multi chap is _hard_ (how do the people with the thought-out 100k+ their witchcraft??).  
> I’m only now getting back into it because of a tumblr ask tbh.
> 
> So take the chapter ‘early’ and let’s hope it won’t bite me in the ass later \o/ 
> 
> As always: Thanks to my amazing beta [Sage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14) <3

Harry groaned. This had to be the most ungraceful floo-landing he had ever managed and with his track record that wasn’t an easy feat.

He felt the dire need to kick himself for his foolishness - what was _wrong_ with him, thinking it to be a good idea to ‘prank’ Draco in such a cruel way? If Hermione would ever find out, she would skin him alive. Hell, Harry didn’t even dare to imagine the reactions of his mother or Uncle Severus if _they_ would find out. Both had been trying for years to counter the lasting impression his father’s and Uncle Sirius’ special brand of humour had left on Harry. 

Harry liked to think that, as he had grown older and more mature, they had succeeded in their quest to curb his penchant for the more cruel jokes - so why the fuck had he no damn grip on his temperament and just went with his impulse to pay back Draco for his mirth by threatening to jeopardize his future with Hermione?

The bonding had been supposed to help him with his lacklustre impulse control, dammit!  
While Harry had done his best to avoid all thoughts about Tom since the revaluations at their wedding he was now wondering if Tom experienced any changes. Maybe he should just-

_Cough._

Harry peered around Draco’s elbow that squashed his nose and looked up into the unimpressed face of one Lord Abraxas Malfoy. _Of course,_ the man would be in the receiving room when Harry decided to indulge a brain fart and stumble through the floo with Draco like the graceless idiots they sometimes tended to be. 

„Tom isn’t here.“

Fuck it. Harry didn’t need Tom. At least not before the other hadn’t done some serious grovelling. 

Harry scoffed and shoved Draco off to get on his feet. Abraxas was able to look down on him if Harry were to stand on a table - no need to make it easier and stay sprawled on the ground. With an air of forced nonchalance, Harry crossed his arms and sniffed in a way he had seen Narcissa do on occasion. 

“I wasn’t looking for him. He knows where to find me when he is ready to apologize.”

Both of them ignored Draco as he scrambled to his feet, much too concentrated on their attempts to stare each other down. At least it was what Harry tried, while Abraxas just watched him with a blank face. 

Harry hated it.   
Always had and always would.

It let him feel inferior, made him want to squirm. Harry knew Abraxas didn’t do it maliciously - it was just the way he looked when he considered his options. 

Still, Harry was bad at handling it. It always reminded him of the fact that this man had walked alongside Tom - _his_ soulmate - the whole way. When Harry hadn’t been born, hadn’t even been a fleeting thought yet. 

Abraxas knew Tom in a way, Harry would never be able to - and Harry hated it. He had hated the way, Abraxas and his grandfather had joked with Tom about things Harry hadn’t been present for. Had hated the feeling of being left out. 

It had been the reason why he had stopped spending time with them. Why he had made Tom promise to not talk about his past. To make _new_ memories, just with Harry. To build a life with Harry that was worth remembering more than his time alone, his time _without_ Harry.

And Tom had used Harry’s insecurity to betray him.

Just like that, Harry felt the rage rise again, the mortification of being embarrassed in such a way on his bonding day - the day that had been supposed to be the best day of his life. The day that he had needed ages to talk Tom into because the other had wanted to _wait_ \- as if they weren’t literally soulmates and thus perfect for each other by default!

“Sit.”

Harry’s mind reeled upon the sudden interruption of his rage spiral.

“What? No. No, I really should-”

“ _Sit_ , Potter.”

And just like that, with the appearance of a cushioned armchair pressing in the back of his knees, Harry sat reflexly down, hands gripping the armrests to not lose all balance. Too distracted by Abraxas’ few words, to dwell on the thoughts that had bothered him before.

“I’m no Potter anymore. I’m a Riddle.” 

“Are you now? Could have fooled me with the scene you threw.”

The quirked eyebrow, that every student of Slytherin seemed to inherit as soon as the hat called their house, had always been a sure way to make Harry bristle. He positively _loathed_ it. Tom was the only one he could tolerate doing it - if only for the devilish handsomeness he portrayed with the air of smug arrogance the quirked eyebrow provided. 

“ _Scene?!_ Can you fault me for losing my temper when I had just found out-“

“Yes. Yes, I can.”

Even though Harry focused his narrowed scowl solely on Abraxas, he could see Draco trying to blend into the background where he stood next to the floo. Harry wasn’t the only one to notice, even though he wouldn’t have guessed it with how intently Abraxas reciprocated his intent staring.

“Leave us, Draco. I have things to discuss with your friend.” 

Harry would like very much for Draco to stay. To not be left alone with one of Tom’s oldest friends. A friend who Harry envied because he knew his soulmate in a way Harry would never be able to - because he had _lived_ with Tom through his experiences. 

A friend of his soulmate who had never been overly impressed with Harry. 

Regardless, he wouldn’t show weakness in front of Abraxas so he let a dissatisfied Draco leave the room without a fuss and instead tried to manage his own escape, petulant as it might have seemed to be.

“I don’t know what we would have to discuss. It’s all been said at the wedding.”

For all that Abraxas had a reputation of never cracking his stone-faced portrayal of a Lord of an Ancient and Noble House, Harry’s statement made him sneer in a rare show of emotion.

“Has it now? As I remember it, there wasn’t much of a discussion but you were content with throwing a temper tantrum and leaving Tom, _your_ _soulmate,_ behind without looking back _._ On your bonding day nonetheless. _”_

While Harry had managed to refrain from outright scowling and maintain the air of decorum - his grandmother had forced into him, in the occasional but rare impromptu lesson for an Heir of House Potter - he finally cracked and threw his arms aggravated into the air. 

“ _A temper tantrum_?! I’d say it’s a perfectly appropriate reaction when one just found out their husband slept with half of their family tree.” 

Of course, he’d had to leave. Before the situation escalated even further. Harry was well aware he had inherited the temper of his mother, so leaving had been for the best, really. 

Harry had expected their usual game of him storming off in a righteous rage, Tom following after _just_ enough time for Harry to calm down so he would accept Tom’s apology and they could make up. 

Of course, with _this_ situation, it wouldn’t have been quick forgiveness. Sleeping with his father - _his grand- and great-grandfather! -_ was bad enough, but never telling Harry? Letting him be humiliated at his own wedding? Tom would have needed to do some serious grovelling for them to make up. 

But-   
Tom hadn’t come. 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!   
> Also, feel free to check out my [tumblr](https://ellionne.tumblr.com/), I’d love to see you around 💙


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